Al Haymon is against the idea, but superstar Floyd “Money” Mayweather says he will fight again, inside the Octagon, but only if, yes, you guessed it, the money, “is right.” Speaking yesterday with Showtime, the 41 year old with the spotless 50-0 pro record, said “it is possible I come back”.
“It is possible I do come back, but if I do come back, it has to be in the Octagon,” Mayweather told Jim Gray in Las Vegas last night. “I spoke with my team. I spoke with Al Haymon. Al Haymon says no. I spoke with Showtime. I spoke with CBS. If I do come back, Showtime and CBS have to be involved.”
When pressed on the subject of his coming back, Mayweather said it has to make financial sense: “Absolutely. If the money is right. You got to talk to Showtime, CBS. The money is going to be crazy. I can do whatever I want to do. I’m Floyd Mayweather.”
It is this show of arrogance, this sheer bravado that will have many millions of fans tuning in (and paying for the privilege of doing so – perhaps as much as $100) in the hope of seeing Mayweather brought down a peg or two, even badly beaten inside the cage. Mayweather is smart enough to have played the bad guy all these years and he is smart enough to realise how much interest there will be if he fights in the Octagon – is this the one place where Floyd will actually lose a fight?
If he does fight an MMA bout, Mayweather says it will be at 145 pounds. This then effectively rules out a return bout with Conor McGregor (who, thanks to his recent sheer idiocy involving a tour bus, has problems of his own and may never even fight again, at least not if his deserved punishment is handed down by anything approaching a firm hand). But whoever Floyd fights, it promises to be a big event.
“Money” just cannot say no to more money, can he?
FLOYD MAYWEATHER:
“Retirement has been great but as you know and everyone knows, I go in retirement and I come back. It is possible I do come back, but if I do come back, it has to be in the Octagon.
“I spoke with my team, I spoke with Al Haymon. Al Haymon says no. I spoke with SHOWTIME, I spoke with CBS. If I do come back, SHOWTIME and CBS has to be involved.
On McGregor’s incident at Barclays Center in New York:
“I feel that when you have reached such high status you have to carry yourself in a classy way. Outside the ring you have to carry yourself as a gentleman.”
On what weight he’d fight:
“When I do go to the Octagon I look forward to going to 145 (pounds).”
Do you want to do it (come back)?
“Absolutely. If the money is right.”
On the money:
“You got to talk to SHOWTIME, CBS. The money is going to be crazy. I can do whatever I want to do. I’m Floyd Mayweather.”
On if he would box again:
“I would not box again.”
On Mayweather Promotions fighter Gervonta Davis, who fights April 21 on SHOWTIME:
“I already spoke to Top Rank. If Gervonta Davis wins on April 21 he’s going to fight (Vasyl) Lomachenko. We’re going to make that fight.”
